The quarter's financials for the world's largest chipmaker were a bit quirky as last year's calendar quarter 1 had 14 weeks for Intel, while this one only had 13 weeks.

While that would account for about a 7 percent drop in revenue, Intel's actual revenue dropped 13 percent to $12.9B USD (GAAP), compared to last year's Q1 results.

Operating income, the company's non-interest earnings, came in at $3.8B/4.0B USD (GAAP/non-GAAP), while the net income -- which takes into account interest or depreciation -- was $2.74B/$2.9B USD (53 cents per share). While this was down slightly from the $3.16B USD (GAAP) (56 cents per share) that Intel grabbed last year, it was a few cents better than the analyst consensus of 50.23 cents per share [source].

[Image Source: etechmag]

Intel predicts Q2 2012 revenue of $13.6B USD. The company says it plans to spend $18.3B USD in 2011, to upgrade its plants and try to further its lead in chipmaking processes.

Ivy Bridge is a die-shrink of the 32 nm Sandy Bridge. The 22 nm chip will pack at least one major refinement, though, hosting a more powerful DirectX 11 capable on-die GPU. The chips are expected to also boast much better power efficiency, thanks both to the die shrink and the company's new 22 nm 3D tri-gate (FinFET) transistors.

III. Intel's First Smartphone Creeps Quietly to Market

Meanwhile as ARM and Intel prepare their next generation offerings for battle in the PC space, Intel has just dropped it's first soldier into ARM's home country -- tablets and smartphones.

The K800 smartphone by Lenovo Group, ltd. (HKG:0992) that popped at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show is finally making its way to market, powered by a 1.6 GHz 32 nm Intel Atom Z2460 processor. The phone is Intel's first, making good on the company's long overdue processes regarding its Medfield Atom sub-family.

The K800 (which will be branded "LePhone" in some markets) is expected to run Android Gingerbread at launch. It features a 4.5-inch screen 720p (1280x720 pixel) screen and 8-megapixel camera.

The Lenovo K800 -- the "LePhone" [Image Source: TNW]

Long-time Intel CEO Paul Otellini, who said during a conference call that a launch would come “later this week”, delivered the launch surprise. The American market is not expected to receive any Intel phones until much later this year, if at all. The LePhone will largely target the European and Asian markets.

Intel is expected to step up its smartphone efforts in 2013, when it brings its 22 nm die shrink to the Atom line. The dramatic power savings of the die shrink and new 3D thin-gate FinFETs will, in theory, make it more competitive with ARM's designs that enjoy certain advantages at present architecturally in terms of power efficiency.